The Doctor's been working on Snooze, carefully, through many weeks. He's brought his ward (his cousin, technically, but so far removed they're barely family, and it's only dumb luck they managed to find each other) through the stages of liking him, and then trusting him, and now...

He's not entirely obtuse, despite what some have said about him. He's seen Snooze's night-black panther making advances towards his own Essene, and he understands the light that sometimes shows in Snooze's eyes when he looks at the Doctor, though Snooze may not understand it himself. And now he and Essene are both of an accord. If this is what Snooze and Cadara want, and need, to feel safe and wanted, then this is what they will give them. It's that very night as the four of them sit reading that the Doctor motions that Essene should make her move. And move she does, walking calmly over to where Cadara is curled up in front of the fire, and touching her nose to the back of the panther's neck.

Cadara jumps, and Snooze feels the ghost of the touch at the back of his own neck. His book falls from his fingers and he stares at Essene--so calm and collected, and /touching his daemon/.

But Cadara doesn't automatically move away from Essene, and Snooze aches in his chest when he realises what that means. The last time Cadara confessed to him that she felt close to another daemon, it had opened his own eyes to how he felt about--but that hadn't worked out, and it had been a long time since Cadara had let another daemon anywhere near her.

It had been a long time since Snooze had let another human near him, too, but for the last few weeks. He looked at the Doctor--his cousin, barely, distantly. The Doctor had made him feel welcome, here. Snooze had rewarded him by biting his head off at least once a day about various little things; he'd hardly been the perfect houseguest, the perfect roommate. He was just /angry/, and he couldn't control it, and he didn't particularly want to, since the Doctor seemed willing to put up with it.

Snooze doesn't know what to do. Call Cadara to him? But she hasn't stopped Essene from touching her. Ask Essene to stop? But the Doctor hasn't given him permission to talk to Essene. Talk to the Doctor? But what would he say?

Last edited by nocturnalie on Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:37 pm; edited 1 time in total

The Doctor remains quiet, pretending to read his book as he watches Snooze through his lashes. He wants to see what Snooze's reaction will be without interfering. He's fairly certain that Snooze needs this kind of closeness. He's absolutely sure that Snooze and Cadara haven't had any such thing for quite some time.

Essene is careful in her movements, her ears pricked forward in anticipation, as she lies down beside Cadara. She can sense the cat's nervousness; she moves slowly until her head lies alongside Cadara's, and then she nuzzles against her, cheek to cheek. Her tail wags slowly and brushes against Cadara's on each stroke.

Cadara relaxes inch by inch as Essene comes down to her level, settles down beside her. The tail wagging is the last straw; the gentle brushes make her melt, just a little, the tiny show of affection all she needs. She glances up at Snooze and nods, slightly, then nuzzles Essene back, butting Essene's head gently, fondly.

Snooze picks up his book again. His hands are shaking, and he tightens his grip on the book, trying to hide it. He can feel the ghostly warmth of the collie daemon like Essene is touching him, but very faintly.

Essene curls up closer to Cadara, surrounding the slightly smaller cat with her own body, until she can feel Cadara's heat even through her own thick fur. The Doctor smiles a little, looking up, as he feels the cat settle into relaxation again.

Essene is grinning a dog's grin, mouth a little open, tongue hanging out. The Doctor's happiness is less obvious, but no less strongly felt. He glances over to Snooze, raising one eyebrow questioningly, and takes note of Snooze's strong reaction. Perhaps it had been even longer than he'd thought, for them.

Cadara may even begin to purr, once she's relaxed and comfortable and sure Essene means well. She thinks about speaking, asking Essene what she's doing, but that would break the comfortable silence between them; maybe they don't need words right now.

Snooze feels the Doctor looking at him, and he glances up only quickly before hiding behind his book again. He's been terrible to the Doctor, the past few weeks. Not as much, lately, as he can't keep being horrible in the face of the Doctor's eternal patience and friendliness. But he has been rude. And he couldn't bear it if the Doctor ordered Essene away from Cadara. Snooze can't let Cadara be hurt like that, because of his own idiocy, not again.

Essene pushes her head against Cadara's once more, completely thrilled at the response she's getting. The panther daemon has never been so relaxed in her presence.

The Doctor continues to watch Snooze, but more subtly. He doesn't want to frighten the young man, not when he and Cadara need this closeness so much. He and Essene wouldn't push if Snooze or Cadara backed away; the Doctor must not give them any reason to do so.

Cadara and Snooze are both pretty melt-y for affection. And if Essene keeps this up, she may find herself being hesitantly licked. Cadara's always cleaning the dirt off Snooze's hands--she hates it when he's dirty, when anyone is dirty. And Essene's fur is so lovely, and there's just a tiny splotch of mud, from going outside with the Doctor sometime earlier that day, no doubt.

Snooze can't even pretend to still be reading his book. His eyes are fixed on Cadara and Essene, and he's probably oddly fascinated by how easily Cadara is reacting to Essene.

Essene stretches her paw out obligingly for Cadara to lick. She closes her eyes, enjoying the sensation - she's never been this close to a cat before, certainly never had one groom her, and it's lovely. The Doctor, too, can feel the ghost of Cadara's tongue on him, and he shivers slightly. Still, Snooze hasn't noticed that the Doctor is watching, or made any protest; he seems captivated by the two daemons. Given Cadara's reaction, the Doctor would be willing to bet that it's pleasure, and not fear, that tinges his intensity.

Cadara cleans off the mud slowly, carefully, then runs her nose over whatever she can reach of Essene, searching out any more. Then she settles again, and her purr is slightly louder, now. This is the only way she can think to thank Essene for the affection.

It's a little of both pleasure and fear, honestly. Snooze is pleased that Essene trusts Cadara, and by extension Snooze, so much; and he enjoys the warmth and closeness. And he's a little afraid of losing this, now--of saying something wrong and him and Cadara being sent away. And he's also worried that even though Essene may trust Cadara, neither she nor the Doctor actually trust Snooze, because of his rude behaviour.

He chances another glance at the Doctor, and sees him looking right back at him. He freezes, unsure of what to do or say next.

Essene stretches out to her full length, letting Cadara lie against her belly. She hopes that the display of trust will put Cadara completely at ease.

The Doctor smiles at Snooze. He knows Snooze must be confused; this is hardly ordinary behavior for two daemons whose humans aren't very close. But he thinks it will work, anyway. "They do get along well, don't they?" he says quietly, trying to quiet Snooze's fears, just as Essene quiets Cadara. Essene lolls her head back to look at both of them through half-open eyes.

Cadara relaxes, then. There's nothing Essene can do to hurt her or drive her away from that position; in fact, she's making herself vulnerable to Cadara. Cadara curls up against her, to keep her warm, since Cadara's closer to the fire.

"They do," Snooze admits. "Thank you for allowing it." He looks at the daemons again, and has to smile; Cadara looks so /happy/, her tail flicking lazily against Essene's. She'll be in an excellent mood for weeks after this.

Cadara nearly bursts with pride. Essene is sleeping! Look how much she trusts Cadara!

Snooze doesn't know what to say to that. The Doctor wants his daemon to touch Snooze's? The thought simply doesn't compute. Even Mitz kept Ilrain away from Cadara. The last person to allow their daemon near Cadara was Thad, and he had Snooze had been best friends for years.

As Snooze thought. Touching is largely reserved for trusting, intimate kinds of relationships. So he still doesn't quite understand. "Are we that close, then?" he asks, and his tone is simply curious, not antagonistic.

The Doctor shrugs one shoulder, keeping calm. "I wasn't sure if we were going to be or not. It was not my intention, I want you to know that; I would have taken you in no matter what. But they do say that daemons know these things."

"If their humans will get along, yes, I have heard that," Snooze agrees. "I thought--with my behaviour--it has been inexcusable, these past weeks." This isn't something he could say by the light of day, but the firelight makes it easier. "I should have been grateful that you took me in. I was worried Essene would hate Cadara, because of my behaviour. Cadara was worried, also."

The Doctor nods. "You're welcome to it. I'm glad you're settling in here. I would have hated to have left you as I found you." In the halfway house, with dozens more confused teenagers. He'd only gone in on the strength of a hunch of Essene's; he'd only met Snooze because his panther had stepped up to meet the collie immediately on entering the front room.

"I would have hated to be left," Snooze confesses. "I think--Cadara knew, and I think I knew, too, from the moment we saw you. That there was something--about you--that we... /knew/." He rubs his eyes. "I am not explaining this very well."

"It's all right. I think I understand." It had been strange, the way he'd found Snooze, but having a new companion in his life was hardly unwelcome. Even if he had been defensive, at first. The Doctor knew he would get through to him eventually, and now he has.

"I will certainly try to be better behaved," Snooze says quietly, almost to himself. It had been a very long time since Cadara had had a friend. She's practically catatonic with happiness right now, so strong that it's washing back into him.

Snooze brings his legs up underneath him as he tries to curl up and read again. His focus is proving less and less easy to drag back into line. All he wants to do is stretch out by the fire, like Cadara is, and laze about and be touched.

He curls up tighter and concentrates on the words on the page. Then he realises he has no idea what's going on in the plot, and has to flip back a few pages, to find something that sounds familiar.

The Doctor watches Snooze's disorientation with something like satisfaction. Over at the hearth, Essene sighs heavily, echoing her human's feelings. "Are you enjoying the novel? I've always liked that one."

It takes a moment for Snooze to process the words as language with meaning. "I think I might be tired. I am finding the plot difficult to follow at the moment." He feels a brief moment of horror at himself; imagine admitting something like that! Now the Doctor will think him an idiot. "But it is still quite enjoyable. The characters are--" Fascinating. Complex. Interesting. Multi-faceted. "Well written."

The Doctor smiles. "I'm glad you think so. I also rather liked their take on magic usage with daemons," he remarks. He doesn't really expect Snooze to give him stellar literary analysis, not in the mental state he must be in right now. But he's rather enjoying Snooze's discomfort.

"I always find it interesting when authors write about daemons. Knowing if my experience is like everyone else's--very interesting," Snooze says, pleased with himself for finally being able to string together a thought.

"Indeed. I read a lot about daemons, right before Essene settled. I still have a few essay collections, if you're ever interested." The Doctor laughs internally, sharing it with Essene. Snooze's willpower must be incredible to have got that many words out in the right order.

Snooze nods. Even though Cadara has settled, he'd like to know that they're--normal. She huffs at the thought that they're not, but Snooze worries. "Maybe when I am not so--tired, though," he says. 'Tired' is probably the most acceptable word for what he's feeling right now, which is really not at all tired.

The Doctor lets Snooze watch for some time, silently appreciating the emotions flitting across the young man's face. He's not entirely immune to the things Snooze is feeling himself. It's been years since Essene has been so close to another daemon and really enjoyed it.

The hour is getting very late, and normally Snooze would have flounced off to bed by now, annoyed by something or other the Doctor has said or done. Tonight is different, and quiet, and the most telling difference is that Snooze does not /want/ to go to bed. He is not looking for an excuse to be alone with Cadara.

The Doctor is getting sleepy himself, with the way Essene is drowsing. He could leave Essene here, and go to bed himself, but he's not quite ready to let on to Snooze that he and Essene are separated. Besides, he wants to watch this. And, perhaps, he can continue to plant seeds. "Snooze," he says, in low tones. "Are you sure you're all right with this? You seem distracted."